Diversionary Tactics
by Mindy35
Summary: CASKETT. Post-ep for "Eye of the Beholder". Castle and Beckett go out for burgers and talk some more about kissing.


Title: Diversionary Tactics

Author: Mindy35

Rating: K, come one, come all

Disclaimer: Not mine, no money made.

Spoilers: "Poof! You're Dead", "Knockdown", "Eye of the Beholder".

Pairing: Castle/Beckett, Castle/Other

Summary: Post-ep for "Eye of the Beholder". Castle and Beckett go out for burgers and talk some more about kissing.

-x-x-x-

Gripping his burger in two hands, Castle peered over its sesame-seeded lid at her. "So does this mean you've forgiven me?"

Beckett's eyes were on her own burger, planning an angle of attack. "Forgiven you for what?"

"Honestly, I don't know what I did wrong," he said around a mouthful of bread and meat and cheese. "I just know you were mad at me. It's kinda hard to miss when you are, what with all the yelling and the daggery little looks." He shot her a daggery little look of his own as if to demonstrate.

Her gaze flicked up to his then back to her burger. "I wasn't mad, Castle, I was just…I don't know…" She gave a little shrug, her voice trailing off.

"…Mad?" he supplied after a moment.

She nodded once. "A little bit, yeah."

Castle set down his burger. "A lot, in fact." He leant in, both elbows planted on the table between them. "Care to share with me why?"

Beckett leant in also, elbows similarly planted. "Care to share with me the real reason you didn't go out with Serena?"

"Sure," he replied lightly. "If you're up for it."

Beckett retreated, fiddling with the paper napkin in her lap. "Look…Castle, it's not that I don't think you might be attracted or attractive to another woman—"

"_Another_ woman?" he interjected, a sly little smile forming on his face. "Other than _whom_, Detective?"

"I…" She licked her lips, tucked some hair behind her ear. "That was a slip of the tongue." She met his eyes, arching a brow at him. "You know, kinda like you experienced in that hallway when you had your hands all over her."

His smile broadened. "Oh, you _really_ didn't like that, did you?"

"Well…" Beckett took a large bite of her burger, successfully avoiding the question for a short time, while Castle just watched, awaiting an answer. "Tell me this," she said finally, dabbing her mouth with her napkin, "that short, flashy, skin-tight look, flesh just out there and everywhere, leaving barely a thing to the imagination – does that really work for you? I mean, come on…don't you find it a bit _obvious_?"

Castle leant back in the booth, eyes dropping over her. "Not everyone looks as good in camouflage as you do."

"Well, there was nothing camouflaged about that woman," she muttered, eyes wide and tone dry, "Least of all her intentions. As soon as she set eyes on you, she was like a lion hunting prey."

"Technically, she'd be a lioness."

"Which would make you what? A flighty little gazelle she wanted to eat?"

Castle smirked, taking another bite of his burger before telling her, "You know, it is possible to _think _someone is attractive from a purely objective standpoint but not actually _be_ attracted to them."

Beckett rolled her eyes, licked some sauce off her fingers. "That's just semantics."

"No. It's like I told my mother—"

"You told Martha about Serena?" she asked, brows suddenly furrowed.

"Because I thought she'd make a great _character. _For a_ book._"

"Right."

"And also," he added, voice a little lower, "because my mother thinks that if I don't get some soon then my head will explode."

Her frown intensified. "So she…she encouraged you to _get some_ with Serena?"

"It's just the way she thinks," he said, giving a half-hearted shrug, "it's the way she has always operated. A new love to get over an old love."

"An old love?" Beckett's eyes cut to one side. "You mean…Gina?"

Castle's head snapped up, expression resembling a deer caught in headlights. "I mean Gina. Of course I mean Gina."

"But that was a while ago now," her investigative instincts couldn't help pointing out.

"Well, rejection is never easy," he muttered, then waved a hand at her. "Not that you would know this."

Beckett let that shot go, instead focusing on: "But Gina _didn't _reject you. You broke up with her."

Castle tipped his head to one side, eyes questioning but amused.

"I heard," she added hastily. "I mean…I assumed. Didn't you?"

"I did," he nodded, letting her slip go. "And I haven't been out with a woman since, much to my mother's consternation."

"Why not?"

Castle looked up from his plate, expression suddenly serious. "Why not? You're asking me why not?"

She nodded. "I'm asking you why not."

He abandoned his food, leaning in to tell her with quiet emphasis on each word, "Because I don't want to." He held her eyes for a moment before adding, "There's no one out there for me."

Beckett swallowed, attempting to make her voice sound casual when she asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've been out there," Castle replied dully. "I know what's out there – all too well. And it's not what I want." He paused, eyes running over her face as a small smile curved his lips. "Everything _I want _is—"

"Two shakes. One chocolate, one vanilla."

Castle and Beckett both turned to look up at the large, gruff man who'd plonked their drinks down right in the middle of their moment. Seemingly unaffected by their matching glares, the man scratched his beard and shuffled away without another word.

Beckett drew in a breath, inhaling another bite of burger. "So why'd you go out with Serena then?"

Castle huffed, dropping his half-raised glass back to the table with a bang. "Because you told me to, woman!"

"Ok-ay," she conceded with an underlying sigh, "but why'd you have to kiss her, Castle?"

"I already explained this!"

"Yes. Yes, you did. It's becoming your standard diversionary tactic, isn't it?"

"Meaning?"

She shrugged, opening up her burger and beginning to dissect it with her fork. "Whenever you get into a tight spot you just grab the nearest woman and plant one on her. That move you pulled on Serena–" she waved some forked tomato at him, "–was exactly the same thing you pulled with me outside that warehouse."

"No, it was not the same," Castle replied vehemently. "Not the same thing at all. That was different. That was…that was _you_. Kissing you was…different to…anything."

She made a face, ate her tomato. "Thanks?"

He shook his head at her, brows knit. "I can't believe you'd even think…—and I'm the one who should be offended here." He leant closer again, voice lowering to an urgent hiss, "Do you have any idea what it does to a man's ego that the whole time I was kissing you, you had your eyes on that guard, the whole time you were kissing the freaking breath outta me, you were really just plotting your next big move?"

Beckett was silent a long time, eyes lowered as she poked at her burger. Then she said quietly, "Not…not the whole time, Castle."

His brows lifted. "I beg your pardon?"

She nibbled at her lower lip, cheeks turning pink. "I'm…pretty sure I took time out to…you know."

"No, I do not know," he muttered, eyes fixed on her mouth. "Please elaborate."

She looked up, causing his gaze to revert to hers. "Castle, your ego has nothing to worry about, believe me."

"It's not nice to mess with a man about something like this," he told her, deadpan.

She gave a mini shake of her head. "I am not messing with you."

"Well, good," he breathed, hesitating before divulging more. "Because I meant what I said that night. That was the single most amazing kiss of my life."

"I wouldn't speak so soon," she said, suppressing her smile as she sucked at her shake. "You've got a good few years ahead of you, Castle, and I'm willing to bet that there are many more amazing kisses in your future just like that one."

He smiled at her. "Oh yeah?"

She smiled back. "Yeah."

"Y'promise?"

She opened her mouth to respond.

"Extra fries," came the same gruff voice. Again, both of them turned to their server with disbelieving glares, Castle's a little more intense.

"Dude, seriously," he muttered under his breath, "_worst timing ever_. What, are you bugging us back there and doing this on purpose?"

Their server just drew in a breath through his nose before wandering back to the kitchen. Beckett snagged some fries from the bowl he'd delivered and added them to her plate. Castle watched her, attempting to find a way back into the conversation they'd been having before they were interrupted.

"You know…" he began after a moment, "you could admit that that kiss was amazing too–"

Beckett shot him a little look. "Castle."

"You do and I'll swear never to mention it again–"

"Castle."

"Yes?"

She shot him another look, this one accompanied by a smile. "Eat".

"'Kay." Castle nodded and obeyed, abandoning the topic. For the moment, at least.

_END._


End file.
